This invention relates to an improved buckle and belt assembly construction especially useful for patient restraint and support, for example, in a wheel chair.
Patients requiring restraint in a wheel chair, a hospital chair, a bathing tub, a hospital stretcher or a hospital bed are often held or supported in position by means of buckled straps which attach at opposite ends to the chair and fit around and over the patient. Typically, a center buckle, which fastens the free ends of a pair of straps, or attaches a strap to a fixed post or stud, may be manipulated relative to the straps to adjust the tightness of the strap about the patient. Various buckle designs, including standard belt buckle constructions, have been proposed in the past.
Belts and buckles when used to restrain a patient in a bathing tub or a whirlpool bath are subjected to water and various soaps or cleansers or other solutions. As such the belts and buckles must be kept clean and disinfected, which is especially difficult with open weave material belts and with some buckle designs. Further, certain materials, such as metal may cause patient discomfort because they feel cold or hot when touching the bare skin of a patient. Thus, features desired with respect to a buckle and strap assembly include ease of removal from around a patient, ease of adjustment of tightness, maintenance of appropriate tightness, use of few moveable or moving parts, few pinch points, sanitary constructions, rugged construction and economical construction. Further, a buckle and belt construction should also be easily cleaned and comfortable. These goals, among others, inspired the development of the present invention.